A Song Makes Guidelines Work Better

by Ed Susman Contributing Writer, MedPage Today

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This study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. These data and conclusions should be considered to be preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

A music video incorporating acute asthma management guidelines resulted in increased awareness of the guidelines as well as improved knowledge of asthma management.

BARCELONA -- By incorporating dry, professional asthma guidelines into a music video that went -- pardon the pun -- viral, researchers say they have dramatically improved hospital-wide knowledge of procedures for ill patients.

Before Tapas Mukherjee, MBChB, a respiratory registrar at Glenfield General Hospital of University Hospitals Leicester in England, created the video -- sung to the tune of the 1995 hit "Breakfast at Tiffany's" -- only 62% of the 58 house officers in the system were even aware guidelines existed. After the video took off on social media, a re-audit of the doctors' knowledge found that 100% now were aware of the guidelines (P<0.001).

At a press briefing at the annual meeting of the European Respiratory Society, Mukherjee explained how his rendition of "Breakfast at Glenfield's" became an overnight sensation among doctors' chat rooms, Facebook and Twitter, and even mustered an interview on the BBC.

But he noted that the video did more than just make doctors aware of the guidelines, it also improved their knowledge of how to treat asthma patients. Before the music video became the rage of England's medical circles, when doctors at the hospitals were asked questions regarding the issue of:

Chest x-rays, 26% gave answers in concordance with the guidelines; after "Breakfast in Glenfield's" the correct responses were given 71% of the time (P<0.0001)

Steroid use, answers were in concordance with guidelines 69% of the time at the first audit, increasing to 91% of the time after the video was circulated (P-0.004)

Safe discharge, answers were in concordance with guidelines 45% of the time at the first audit, rising to 71% of the time after the video (P=0.0075)

Nebulizer use, answers were in concordance with guideline 28% of the time at the first audit, increasing to 62% after the video (P=0.0003)

Target oxygen saturation level, answers were in concordance with the guideline 57% of the time before the first audit, rising to 91% of the time in the audit after the video was released (P<0.0001).

"Every single one of the question categories significantly improved," Mukherjee said. "Our study shows that we can change the world around us, and social media is one of the ways we can do that."

"This is a very interesting innovation," said press conference moderator Peter Barnes, DM, PhD, the new president of the European Respiratory Society; Barnes is also chief of respiratory medicine at Imperial College London. "The advantage of this technology is that anyone can develop such a video. These innovations are going to be very helpful in treatment and care of patients with chronic diseases."

Mukherjee told MedPage Today that the video didn't cost anything to make, although it did take a lot of his time working with standard computer tools. "It took four nights to make the video, during which time I rarely spoke to my family. It's not an easy thing to do, but it is worth it," he said.

He said that several hospitals have asked him for permission to use the video during their grand rounds, and "I, of course, said 'yes,'" Mukherjee said. He owns the video, but not the music. He said he attempted to contact the owners of the music but did not receive a reply. The song was the only major hit from the American rock band Deep Blue Something.

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